Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin watched a strategic joint drill with his defense minister and China's Defense Minister Wei Fenghe in attendance on Thursday, according to Beijing.

China's defense ministry disclosed Friday that Wei was in Russia as an envoy of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and was leading a delegation to Russia on Wednesday and Thursday to attend the Vostok-2018, reportedly the largest joint drill in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The training took place in Russia's Trans-Baikal region, where the officials "inspected the troops at the Tsugol training range," according to the defense ministry.

In a signal to Xi that Russia seeks closer ties to China, Putin reportedly praised the Chinese troops.

China's People's Liberation Army deployed its Type-99 main battle tank, the ZBD-08 infantry-fighting vehicle, the WZ-9 and WZ-19 attack helicopters, Mi-171 helicopters and the JH-7A fighter-bombers, according to Beijing.